Why Walmart Is Not Evil For Opening On Thanksgiving, Give It A Break

Who died and made you the authority on business principles? This was my response in a recent discussion with a family member in discussing the state of retail giant Walmart. It seems although I have no personal interest in the company, I continue to come to its defense. As far as I’m concerned, the company has become too easy of a target.

What bothers me is the idea that a scarlet letter has to be immediately attached to anyone with enough audacity to publicly say anything positive about the company. It’s beginning to get old. When Walmart is not being attacked for claims over low wages, it is being punished for what is perceived as undermining U.S. manufacturing - It all depends on what day it is. Walmart does not kill off “mom and pop” shops – they kill themselves. Anyone with enough business sense should understand this. However, why let a good opportunity for some “righteous anger” slip away.

It’s Thanksgiving - Thanks for Shopping

However, aside from the fact that these arguments often get stale, over and over again, they are grossly based on hypocrisy. The same people that toss insults at Walmart can’t stay out of its stores for the convenience it brings. Still, this time around the company is being loathed and finds itself on the receiving end of increased backlash for its decision to open its doors on Thanksgiving. At the risk of sounding insensitive – so what! I don’t see what the big deal is.

However, over 30,000 people do as they have all signed an online petition asking the company to reverse its decision and close on Thanksgiving. However, Walmart’s plan is to open after 8PM – long after every one has eaten and certainly after second and third portions have had enough time to be digested. Still this is nothing new as the company also opened on Thanksgiving of last year – except this time it wants to open two hours earlier. Again, I ask where is the crime?

The petition asserts that Walmart is disregarding the needs of its employees and that the company can afford to allow them the time to be spend with their families. But does this make Walmart evil for providing employment in an economy already ravaged by lost jobs? What’s more, Walmart is not the only retailer that plans to open on thanksgiving in preparation for Black Friday. Other retailers such as Target, Kmart as well as Toys R Us also plan to take advantage of early shoppers. Yet it is Walmart that is considered evil for this decision.

Bottom Line

As you’re walking into a Walmart try to remember how difficult things were at the height of our country’s recent recession. With Walmart’s low prices, it’s hard to imagine if there was any other company that was more instrumental in helping Americans manage their household budgets. Still, the self-appointed moral figures on American business forget that offering low prices come at a cost. If it requires generating enough revenue on Thanksgiving so that “little Johnny” can enjoy Tickle-Me-Elmo for $10 less, I ask again - where’s the crime?

What’s more, there is a lot of good that Walmart does for which it gets very little credit – including being one of the country’s largest tax payers while offering jobs and providing American workers with opportunities that they otherwise might not have had. So is opening on Thanksgiving really that egregious after all? I think it is safe to say that there are bigger travesties in the world of business. So can we for now shelve the constant hypocrisy on this issue – at least until Christmas?